1b: Theoretical Models

Overview of Theoretical Models

  • Models used in psychology to understand mental illnesses and behaviors.

  • interacting levels of risk and resilience

  • Key approaches:

    • Biological

      • genetics, trauma, biochemical, brain

    • Psychological

      • thoughts, feelings, attitudes, learning, memory coping skills

    • Sociocultural

      • culture, relationship, social support, environment

Biopsychosocial Model

  • Definition: A model that integrates biological, psychological, and social factors.

    • Components:

    • Biological Factors: Genetics, brain structure, biochemistry.

    • Psychological Factors: Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, learning, memory, coping skills.

    • Social Factors: Culture, relationships, social support, environment.

    • Implications: Interacting levels of risk and resilience can provide a more comprehensive understanding of mental health.

Biological Models

General Concepts

  • Definition: Mental illnesses are viewed as real, diagnosable, and treatable brain disorders as noted by Hyman in 1998.

  • Developed roughly 150 years ago with the rise of psychiatry.

  • Focuses on biological processes that affect the brain or nervous system, leading to abnormal behavior.

  • Limitations: Emphasizes biological mechanisms but lacks depth in addressing heterogeneity and contextual factors.

Genetics - Key Topics in Biological Models

  • Molecular Genetics: Study of the molecular structure of DNA and its cellular activities.

  • Behavioral Genetics: Examines how genes influence behavior transmission. hoe does genetic differences lead to behavioural differences

  • Polygenetic Traits: Observable traits (phenotypes) influenced by multiple genes.

  • Epigenetics: How behavior and environment can alter the way genes function.

Brain Injury and Cognition

  • Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI): Result from sudden trauma leading to brain damage.

  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Results from a blow or jolt to the head, causing disrupted brain function such as:

    • Decreased consciousness

    • Memory loss

    • Neurological deficits

    • Alterations to mental state

    • Localised Injuries: Includes hematomes, contusions, intracerebral and subarachnoid hemorrhages.

    • Diffuse Injuries: Includes diffuse injuries and diffuse axonal injuries, as well as ischemia.

Neurotransmitters and Hormones

  • Neurotransmitters: Chemicals released in the central and peripheral nervous systems that transmit information across synapses.

  • Hormones: Released by endocrine glands, influence activity at the synapse via the bloodstream.

  • Psychopharmacology: Study of how therapeutic medications treat mental illness and affect behavior.

Brain Structure and Function

  • Regions of the Brain:

    • Frontal Lobe: Decision making, problem solving, emotional expression, concentration, judgment.

    • Parietal Lobe: Attention, sensory processing, body orientation.

    • Temporal Lobe: Auditory processing, language, emotional processing, short-term memory.

    • Occipital Lobe: Sight, image processing, recognition.

  • Changes in these areas are linked to specific cognitive, emotional, and behavioral profiles.

Treatment Modalities（方式）

  • Types of Treatments:

    • Psychosurgery

      • neurosurgical treatment of severe, treatment-resistant mental disorders

    • Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

      • highly effective, safe psychiatric treatment for severe mental illnesses

    • Deep Brain Stimulation

      • neurostimulator-based treatment for movement disorders

    • Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation (tDCS)

      • non-invasive portable neurostimulation technique

      • direct electrical currents applied via scalp electrodes to modulate brain activity

    • Psychotropic Medications 精神药物 (e.g., anxiolytics, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics)

  • Strengths:

    • Continuous evolution and efficacy of psychopharmacology.

    • Focus on symptom reduction as a treatment goal.

  • Limitations:

    • Unclear relationships between beliefs, values, and biology.

    • Lack of clarity on causation (nature vs. nurture).

    • Potential side-effects, relapses, and issues with long-term medication use.

    • Non-specific effects of biological interventions across various neural systems.

Psychological Models

Overview

  • These models became prominent alongside the development of psychiatry over 150 years ago, focusing on psychological processes behind abnormal behavior.

  • Factors in Psychological Models:

    • Interpretation of experiences

    • Beliefs and motivations

    • Conscious and unconscious processes

    • Learning history

Psychoanalytic Models

  • Sigmund Freud's Contributions:

    • Key concepts include unconscious processes, psychosexual development, and defense mechanisms.

    • Treatments involve free association and dream analysis as well as counter/transference reflections.

    • Emphasizes childhood experiences impacting later development.

    • Limited empirical testability has led to new models emerging.

Psychodynamic Models

  • Focus on dynamic internal forces and unconscious influences.

  • retains unonscious processes while increasing clinical measurability

  • Key Theories: Includes ego psychology, object relations theory, interpersonal therapy, and attachment theory.

Behavioral Models

  • Abnormal behavior viewed as the result of observable and identifiable environmental stimuli.

  • Techniques involve reinforcement and punishment.

  • Methods of Learning:

    • Classical Conditioning (Pavlov & Watson): Associating unconditioned stimuli with conditioned responses.

    • Definitions:

      • Unconditioned Response (UR)

      • Conditioned Response (CR)

      • Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

      • Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

    • Operant Conditioning (Skinner): Behavior modification through reinforcement and punishment (positive and negative).

      • shaped by consequence and reinforcement

  • Observational Learning: Learning by watching others, such as in Bandura's Bobo Doll study.

    • social behaviour learning

    • can occur in absence of reinforcers

Cognitive Models

  • Proposed by Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck, these models focus on dysfunctional cognitive processes leading to abnormal behaviors and emotions.

  • abnormal behaviours and emotions caused by dysfunctional cognitive processes

  • multiple levels of cognitive processes

  • Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT):

    • Proposed the ABC model (Activation-Beliefs-Consequences) to demonstrate the role of interpretations in emotional responses.

    • interpretations drive emotional responses

    • Identified themes of negative thinking and cognitive distortions prevalent in various disorders.

ABC Model, explains how thoughts create emotional and behavioural outcomes:

  • activating event

    • something happens to you or in the environment around you

  • beliefs

    • you have a belief or interpretation regarding the activating event

  • consequences

    • your belief has consequences that include feelings and behaviours

  • disputations of beliefs

    • chalenge your beliefs to create new consequences

  • effective new beliefs

    • adoption and implementation of new adaptive beliefs

Cognitive-Behavioral Models

  • Integration of cognitive models with behavioral practices.

  • Focus on improving emotion regulation and coping skills through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

  • Dominant approach to psychological treatment today, with compatibility to the scientific-practitioner model.

Sociocultural Models

General Overview

  • Established approximately 150 years ago alongside psychiatric development, focusing on social structures and cultural norms that influence psychological experiences.

  • Examines the interaction of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings in real or perceived social contexts.

  • examines how people’s behaviours, thoughts and feelings based on real or imagined interactions with society

  • Key Points:

    • Social structures and environmental stressors significantly affect psychological wellbeing.

    • Explores individual suffering from a broader social perspective.

Influential Factors

  • Consideration of living conditions, social norms, family dynamics, education, work environment, age, and culture.

Theories of Behavior and Intention

Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)

  • Founded by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen in the 1960s; further developed into the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in the 1980s.

  • Key Components:

    • Attitude towards the behavior

    • Behavioral beliefs and evaluations of outcomes

    • Subjective norms and normative beliefs

    • Motivation to comply

    • Perceived behavioral control and perceived power

Theory of planned behaviour (TPB)

  • performing a behaviour is also influenced by hacing the necessary resources and capability to peform the behaviour

  • extended TRA to form TPB

Attribution Theory

  • Examines how people perceive and attribute their own and others' behaviors.

  • Discusses errors in attribution, such as:

    • Fundamental Attribution Error - focusing on internal over external factors.

    • Confirmation Bias - interpreting information to fit existing beliefs.

    • Self-Serving Bias - attributing successes to oneself but failures to external factors.

    • Illusory Superiority - overestimating one's abilities compared to others.

Diathesis-Stress Model

  • Explains mental illness risk through interaction between predisposition and stress levels.

  • Illustration:

    • Low stress with a predisposition: Disorder not manifested.

    • High stress with predisposition: Disorder manifested.

  • Emphasizes probabilistic risk rather than deterministic causation in developing mental illnesses.